UK’s Iman goes down fighting in junior tennis

ISLAMABAD: Great Britain’s Iman Khan went down fighting against Maria Pukhina of Russia in the quarter-finals of the Syed Dilawar Abbas/Syed Tajamul Abbas Memorial ITF World J5 Junior Tennis Championships here at the PTF Complex Thursday.

Iman, who lost the final of the first leg of the ITF Juniors against the same opponent, put up a resolute show stretching the strong Russian opponent to three sets before losing 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.

The Russian player almost conceded the second set after Iman unleashed some exciting cross-court shots backed by timely aces. Following 1-1, it was all to play for in the third where both the players showed tremendous stamina and excellent tennis abilities. Maria, however, ended up on a winning note.

In the boys’ singles event, Alessio Basile from Belgium beat Lorant Gyori from Hungary 6-3, 6-0 in a one-sided affair. Also moving into the semi-finals was Turkish player Birtan Duran who defeated Siddhartha Lama (USA) 6-3, 6-1. Duran was too powerful from the baseline, using his full ability of court coverage and was outstanding when it came to hit timely winners.

The tournament provided an excellent opportunity for players from all over the world to interact with each other and exchange goodwill.

Results: Boys’ singles quarter-finals: Alessio Basile (BEL) bt Lorant Gyori (HUN) 6-3, 6-0; Birtan Duran (TUR) bt Siddhartha Lama (USA) 6-3, 6-1; Artiom Dorofeev (FRA) bt Yakup Uzunel (DEN) 7-5, 6-2; Dmitry Dolzhenkov (RUS) bt William Alsterback (SWE) 7-5, 6-2.

Boys’ doubles: Dmitry Dolzhenkov (RUS) & Artiom Dorofeev (FRA) bt Andrey Kozlov (RUS) & Ruslan Serazhetdinov (RUS) 6-0, 6-4; Alessio Basile (BEL) & Birtan Duran (TUR) bt Raahim Agha (GBR) & Abraar Iqbal (USA) 7-5, 6-1.

Girls’ singles quarter-finals: Maria Pukhina (RUS) bt Iman Khan (GBR) 6-3, 1-6, 7-5; Ellie Blackford (GBR) bt Ekaterina Suvorova (RUS) 6-3, 6-3; Arina Arifullina (RUS) bt Mariia Masiianskaia (RUS) 0-6, 6-4, 6-3; Ines Faltinger (AUT) bt Avrora Volkova (RUS) 6-1, 6-1.

Girls’ doubles: Mariia Masiianskaia (RUS) & Margarita Okhendovskaya (UKR) bt Ekaterina Suvorova (RUS) & Avrora Volkova (RUS) 7-5, 6-4; Dorsa Cheraghi (IRI) & Ines Faltinger (AUT) bt Lidia Laskova (RUS) & Olga Sorochkina (RUS) 6-1, 6-3.